Six Flags Great America is bringing back its annual Halloween event Fright Fest for a milestone 35th year, transforming the Gurnee, Illinois park into a haunted after-dark attraction from September 19 through November 1. The 2026 lineup includes five haunted mazes, seven scare zones, and returning stage shows, alongside rides and roller coasters that run in darkness once the sun goes down.
FOX 32 Chicago announced the anniversary event in a press release that detailed the full slate of new and returning attractions for this fall. Among the new mazes is Blair Witch: No Signal, based on the Blair Witch Project, and Saw: Legacy of Terror, centered on the Jigsaw character from the Saw franchise. A maze called The Conjuring Universe also debuts this year, taking guests through the Perron farmhouse from the Conjuring horror film franchise, and a maze titled Nightmares features nightmare dreamscapes populated with clowns, spiders, and what the park describes as brutal carnage.
Necropolis Returns After More Than a Decade
Among the scare zones, Necropolis Returns stands out for its history: the zone, which depicts a city inhabited and haunted by the undead, is coming back for the first time since 2014. Its revival is timed to coincide with Six Flags Great America's own 50th anniversary, since the Gurnee park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, before Six Flags acquired it in 1984, according to background compiled by Wikipedia. That means this year's Fright Fest sits inside a much larger milestone season for the park itself.
Fright Fest itself dates back to 1991, when it launched as a seven-day event featuring early haunted attractions like the Mausoleum of Terror, Camp Hideaway, Terror Train, and Blood River, per historical accounts compiled on Wikipedia. The event later expanded across the Six Flags chain following seasonal successes in Texas and Illinois. The Estate at Wretched Meadows, a longtime Fright Fest maze, remains part of the 2026 lineup alongside the new attractions.
Live Shows and After-Dark Entertainment
Beyond the mazes and scare zones, Fright Fest includes entertainment experiences such as returning performances of The Uprising: Nightly Call of the Dead, The Ringmaster's Cabaret, and Love at First Fright. New this year are the Masquer-Rave and The Velvet Quarter performances, which offer acoustic music medleys as part of the after-dark programming. Six Flags says it will announce additional details for its Tricks and Treats event at a later date.
For families looking for something less intense, the park also offers a daytime event called Tricks and Treats, which runs Saturdays and Sundays from September 19 through November 1 and includes Halloween decor, seasonal treats, and festive entertainment. Six Flags is also running its Oktoberfest event on select days across the same stretch, offering autumnal foods and beverages including German-inspired brews and food.
Chaperone Rules Still in Effect for Fall Visitors
Families planning a Fright Fest visit should note that Six Flags Great America updated its guest policy in April, requiring visitors 15 years old or younger to be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older at all times starting at park opening, as reported by the Lake and McHenry County Scanner. Chaperones are required to present valid government identification and stay with youth guests throughout the visit, a rule Hoodline previously covered in its report on the park's all-day chaperone rule.
The Halloween season also arrives as the park continues to lean on its recent thrill-ride investments. Six Flags Great America opened Wrath of Rakshasa in May 2025, a Bolliger and Mabillard dive coaster that set world records for the steepest dive coaster drop at 96 degrees along with five inversions. Hoodline previously reported that park staff safely evacuated riders from the coaster's 180-foot peak using safety harnesses in July after the train experienced a technical stoppage, with the ride later cleared and reopened following maintenance checks.
With 17 roller coasters currently in operation, Six Flags Great America holds the second-largest coaster collection in the Midwest, trailing only Cedar Point, according to Hoodline's earlier coverage. The park has also announced Camp Timber Trail for its 2027 season, an expansion featuring a suspended family coaster called Sky Hawk that is slated to become the Midwest's longest, tallest, and fastest ride of its kind.
Six Flags Great America drew 3.1 million visitors in 2024, placing it 19th among the most-visited theme parks in North America, according to a Themed Entertainment Association report cited by Mickey Visit. The park remains the primary generator of amusement tax revenue for the Village of Gurnee, which levies a 4% tax on ticket admissions and pass sales in a municipality that relies on tourism revenue in place of a property tax. That local financial backdrop comes amid broader corporate change, after Six Flags Entertainment Corporation completed an $8 billion merger of equals with Cedar Fair in July 2024, creating North America's largest regional amusement operator with 42 properties across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
